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Work

Socrates in Plato’s Symposium

Plato

The Symposium presents Socrates as a strange object of desire and transmitter of Diotima’s teaching on Eros. His endurance, irony, and inner beauty finally appear through Alcibiades’ passionate praise.

Composition
c. 385-370 BCE
Sources and precision

The internal chronology remains disputed. This range is a qualified reference point, not a certain year.

Confidence C · probable range

Period
Antiquity
Languages
Ancient Greek · English · French
Extent
52 passages · 23,769 words

Before reading

What you will learn

Identify frames transmitting Socrates’ words, distinguish Diotima’s reported teaching, and analyze Alcibiades’ partial portrait.

Short summary

The Symposium presents Socrates as a strange object of desire and transmitter of Diotima’s teaching on Eros. His endurance, irony, and inner beauty finally appear through Alcibiades’ passionate praise.

Long summary

Socrates refutes Agathon’s definition before reporting what a priestess supposedly taught him: love is not beautiful or good by possession but desires what it lacks and can ascend toward beauty itself. This authority is narrated through several frames.

Alcibiades then replaces doctrine with memory of a relationship, describing a man unmoved by seduction, courageous, and perplexing like a Silenus. Plato juxtaposes conceptual speech with an interested portrait. Neither Diotima nor Alcibiades should disappear into a uniform Socratic voice.

Inside this work

The table of contents follows the divisions actually carried by the corpus.

Work › Reference

  1. Passage 172
  2. Passage 173
  3. Passage 174
  4. Passage 175
  5. Passage 176
  6. Passage 177
  7. Passage 178
  8. Passage 179
  9. Passage 180
  10. Passage 181
  11. Passage 182
  12. Passage 183
  13. Passage 184
  14. Passage 185
  15. Passage 186
  16. Passage 187
  17. Passage 188
  18. Passage 189
  19. Passage 190
  20. Passage 191
  21. Passage 192
  22. Passage 193
  23. Passage 194
  24. Passage 195
  25. Passage 196
  26. Passage 197
  27. Passage 198
  28. Passage 199
  29. Passage 200
  30. Passage 201
  31. Passage 202
  32. Passage 203
  33. Passage 204
  34. Passage 205
  35. Passage 206
  36. Passage 207
  37. Passage 208
  38. Passage 209
  39. Passage 210
  40. Passage 211
  41. Passage 212
  42. Passage 213
  43. Passage 214
  44. Passage 215
  45. Passage 216
  46. Passage 217
  47. Passage 218
  48. Passage 219
  49. Passage 220
  50. Passage 221
  51. Passage 222
  52. Passage 223

Concepts covered

Historical context

The world around the text

The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.

These are modern reconstructions. They situate a documented place, practice, or transmission and are not period documents.

Modern reconstruction of Potidaea for Socrates in Plato’s Symposium on Prokopton42.com
PotidaeaMilitary service reported by Platonic witnesses. The generated scene uses Potidaea and 432-429 BCE as its documented anchors.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Socrates
Modern reconstruction of Nearby historical landmark, 508 BCE for Socrates in Plato’s Symposium on Prokopton42.com
Nearby historical landmark, 508 BCECleisthenes’ reforms reorganize Athenian civic life and help establish its democracy. The image situates Socrates in Plato’s Symposium without claiming to show its scene of composition.
Modern reconstruction of Material world: agriculture and food, 490–479 BCE for Socrates in Plato’s Symposium on Prokopton42.com
Material world: agriculture and food, 490–479 BCEThe Persian Wars put the Greek city-states against two Achaemenid invasions. The image situates Socrates in Plato’s Symposium without claiming to show its scene of composition.

What the world looked like

Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE

Modern reconstruction of the material world around Socrates in Plato’s Symposium: Technology, science, and care
Technology, science, and careBronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water. Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments. Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Socrates in Plato’s Symposium: Travel and communication
Travel and communicationWalking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies. Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Socrates in Plato’s Symposium: Farming and food
Farming and foodSmall farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Socrates in Plato’s Symposium: Clothing, women and men
Clothing, women and menWomen and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes.
State of technology
Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.
Science and knowledge
Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.
Medicine and care
Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.
Transport
Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.
Agriculture and food
Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.
Communication
Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.
Clothing and fashion
Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes.

Editions, translations, and provenance

The following carriers represent the text. They do not create new passage identities.

  • Ancient Greekoriginal_carrier
  • Englishhistorical_translation
  • Frenchhistorical_translation

Source manifests: socrates.plato_symposium

Reader

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Socrates in Plato’s SymposiumPlato

Before reading

What you will learn

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